


The Good Man

by gubernaculum



Series: The Namesakes [2]
Category: Highlander: The Series, Torchwood
Genre: M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-21
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-14 17:56:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gubernaculum/pseuds/gubernaculum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Torchwood team is still not at full strength. An unexpected visitor may mean a new addition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing. I'm only borrowing everything purely for non-profit and completely recreational purposes. The characters of Miranda Ryan and Joseph Fischer are my own. I have cast them as Zhang Ziyi and Jesse Spencer, respectively. This fic is unbeta'd and therefore probably full of grammatical and typographical errors. Writing is purely a hobby for me. I am an American and have attempted to do my own Britpicking so I apologize for any errors there as well. This is is the second installment of my AU. This story will not make sense if you have not read the first installment of the series, The Late Wife. I am borrowing Highlander concepts and names. It's not a show I know well so my apologies if nothing from it will make sense as I've only taken pieces. This is also AU for Torchwood as I like to pretend CoE and Miracle Day never happened.

It had been another extremely quiet day at Torchwood Cardiff and no one was complaining. The rift predictor had shown a near two week dry spell after the New Year followed by another week of nothing but small spikes. Miranda still shared the Hub with Jack and Ianto and, bored, she'd decided to give the two men some privacy, offering to run the Hub's errands for Ianto. The young Welshman had gleefully given her the list for Tesco and then had asked for a personal favor, handing her the keys to his flat. He'd asked her if she wouldn't mind bring back the post. She had smiled, saying it was no trouble. She'd grabbed her things and drove the short distance to the young man's abandoned flat.  

She took Ianto's keys out of her pocket and opened the door. The air smelled flat and stale. Despite the fact it was late January, she opened the windows to let in some fresh air. It was clear the Welshman hadn't lived here for some time. Even though all she had to do was grab the pile of post, she'd decided to linger longer than necessary to give the two men time alone… and to snoop a bit. She passed the time with cleaning. She ran his towels and sheets through the dryer to freshen them up. Ianto had stripped the bed bare at some point and she left it as she found it. She lightly cleaned the bathrooms and the kitchen finding the cupboards empty of any food. While she dusted the rest of the flat, she wondered why he still kept it. Rent so close to the bay wasn't exactly cheap. 

When Miranda had returned to Torchwood as its medic nearly a year ago, she'd been surprised to learn that the two men were living together in the cramped bunker under Jack's office. The storage rooms turned flat in the Hub's north sub-basement where she lived had been vacant. This was her first time in Ianto's flat and now she found it even more puzzling that the two men hadn't chosen to live either here or the rooms she now occupied. _Maybe it's time for me to move out._  

After putting the large pile of post into a sack, she secured all the windows and left, moving on to the fairly deserted bank and equally deserted Tesco. Within a few hours, she was making her way back to the Hub, phoning ahead so Ianto would meet her in the tourist office to help her with the grocery sacks and also so she wouldn't find the two men in a compromising situation. She and Gwen had walked in on the two of them so many times lately that both women were starting to doubt the coincidence. _Some fetishes should be kept to yourself…_ Hoping she had given the two of them enough time and fair enough warning, she rounded the corner and started down the ramp towards the tourist office, digging through her purse for her keys. 

"Doctor Evelyn Wei…" said a deep voice with the blunted vowels of Australia, "… or should I say Doctor Miranda Ryan…?" 

Miranda looked up and her jaw dropped. "Fish…" 

Standing with his hands in his pockets in a long woollen coat and scarf, was Doctor Joseph Fischer. He looked older than when she'd last seen him fifteen years ago. He still wore his blonde hair quite long. It made him look younger than his thirty-eight years even thought she could see some grey starting. His hazel eyes, usually dancing with laughter, were narrow with anger. 

"'It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one…'" he quoted.

When she'd called her old friend a few months ago, she had never expected him to show up in Cardiff. When the Torchwood team had been stuck, she'd remembered Fish's unique skills as an engineer and chemist. She'd sent him a sample of an alien compound she'd been unable to isolate and identify. Within a matter of a few days, the genius had managed to isolate the compound, cracking their case. Her mind was racing wildly, wondering what about the compound had led him here. _Perhaps it was one of the impurities…?_ But she was wrong. It wasn't the compound that had led him to Torchwood's front door. It was her. 

"I don't know who or what you are," he said, his accusation as cold as the afternoon air, "but you're looking damn good for forty five and I'd say you're looking a right sight better for a woman who's been dead for nine fucking years." 

She glanced around nervously. So blustery and chilly was the afternoon that the main Plass was fairly deserted but there was still the odd off-season tourist or local. Even though the ramp to the tourist office was below the main Plass, people still came down here. She finally produced her keys from her bag and moved past him to unlock the door. Automatically and without thinking, she switched her accent from her usual Irish to the American one that Fish was used to. "Not out here, Fish." 

When she opened the door, she saw Ianto waiting for her. She shot him a knowing look to let the Welshman know she wasn't alone and to stop him from speaking. He hurried back behind the counter and disappeared through the beaded curtain. He narrowly missed being seen by Fish who was close on her heels. She lifted the grocery sacks up onto the counter and then turned to face him. 

"So what the fuck is going on Evie? I ran into Dan Weiss a few years ago and he told me how sorry he was to hear you'd died and how he couldn't believe a surgeon wasn't wearing a fucking seat belt. Then to my surprise you call me up out of the blue, alive and well," he said, his voice rising. 

When Jack had asked her to come work for Torchwood after Alex Hopkins, she knew she could possibly be in Cardiff for years. She'd been using the alias of Evelyn Wei for nearly two decades so she'd decided to retire the name as Torchwood's resources would allow her to more easily create and take on a new identity. She'd driven into a barrier at eighty kilometers an hour without wearing her seatbelt. Evelyn Wei had been pronounced dead at the scene. That had been two years after Fish had relocated from Boston to the UK. By then, the two friends had lost touch. Miranda had taken a chance when she'd contacted him. It was a gamble she'd lost. 

He shouted at her, "I do some digging and Evelyn Wei willed her entire estate to some charity in Africa, not all that unusual, I figured, since you didn't have any family or even so much as a fucking cat…" 

"Fish-" 

"No!" he shouted. 

She saw Ianto lean into the doorway, giving Fish a cautious look. She gave slight shake of her head to let him know she was fine and he disappeared again. 

"I do more digging. The charity's bogus. It belongs to some dummy corporation based in South America! That corporation donates all of it to the research of a Doctor Miranda Ryan of Cardiff, Wales. This is the address for Doctor Miranda Ryan's medical licence. It's a bloody tourist office!" 

Fish leaned in, pointing his finger straight in her face. "I saw a string of names going all the way back to the late 1800's! Imagine my mother fucking surprise when I see an old photo from the 1973 Johns Hopkins medical school yearbook for Maya Xiao and it's your fucking twin! What the fuck are you?!" 

"I'm sorry, Fish. I'm so sorry. Ifan!" she said as she grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back. She pinned him to the counter as he struggled and cursed. 

Ianto stepped out from behind the beaded curtain, stun gun in hand. He pushed it into the other man's shoulder and he went limp. Miranda lowered him gently to the floor. 

"This isn't good, Mandy," he gestured at the unconscious man. 

"Oh, you think?!" Miranda snapped at him. 

"You have far too many aliases, I don't know how you keep it all straight," he said wincing at the sound of her voice in the unfamiliar accent. "And drop the American accent. It doesn't suit you."

"I don't age, Ifan. I have to move around a lot," she said, still using the American accent without realising. She stood up and put her hand to her forehead trying to think. "We have to retcon him." 

"Oh, you think?" he threw her previous words back at her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Losing their tempers wasn't going to help. "Mandy, you called him back in early November. Retcon isn't selective. It's almost February. We'll be taking three months from him." 

"Do you see another option here? Because I don't. I work very hard to keep my identity changes a secret precisely so no one can do what Fish just did… piece together a pattern." She handed the grocery sacks to him. "Head downstairs, let Jack know what's going on and bring me the injectable retcon." 

When Ianto returned, he had the syringe in hand and Jack behind him, looking annoyed.  "Seriously, Will? You said no one could figure out that insane whatever it is you do when you change names."

"Sorry, Jack, not all of us can get away with keeping the same name for a whole fucking century," she said with an eye roll. She'd always wondered how Jack had avoided not having to shed names and move every few decades like she did. She waved down at Fish's unconscious form. "He found the tourist office because of me." 

"And you want to retcon him?" 

"You'd rather I take him downstairs to meet the pterodactyl?" she snapped. 

"It might not be a bad-" 

"Absolutely not Jack!" she said hotly as she brought the flat of her palm down on the counter. She could see the wheels in Jack's head turning. Yes, the research and hacking skills Fish had used to piece together the pattern of her aliases were impressive. Yes, Torchwood still needed a technician but Miranda was not going to let Torchwood seduce Joseph Fischer. The man was nearly forty. Torchwood was a job for the young. "Ifan, the retcon please." 

Ianto stood, looking between his lover and his friend. While he knew the drug was necessary for their work, he disliked it and found its use distasteful. The Australian had stumbled upon Miranda's secret, not Torchwood's. This was a grey area and he looked to Jack for his orders.

"Sir?" he asked. 

His lover seemed caught in the same dilemma. "What if we just let him go?" 

"Miranda Ryan would need to die. I'd need to stage a public death, switch identities and move out of the UK," she said simply. It was no exaggeration. They could let Fish walk away and believe whatever he wanted, but she could not remain in Cardiff on Torchwood's doorstep. She'd have to disappear.  

"Fine. Retcon him," Jack snapped. He immediately turned on his heel and stomped back down the staircase behind the beaded curtain. 

"I hope you know what you're doing, Mandy," he said as he watched her inject the drug into Fish's scalp to hide the needle mark.


	2. Chapter 2

Fumbling with his cane, Joseph Fischer got out of his parking spot in the ECO UK car park. The car accident had caused a break in his lower leg that had required a plate to correct. The cast was long gone and now he had only a small walking brace and cane. Aside from the inconvenience of the cane and the fact that the brace was uncomfortable, he was on the mend and he would have no permanent damage other than the memory loss. Head trauma, the doctors had said at first but now they were saying psychological trauma. Fish found that diagnosis oddly more comforting. To him, psychological trauma meant the possible recovery of his memories more so than brain damage. 

It was his first day back at work and he loathed to think what his lab would look like. As he gimped into the lobby, the cheerful receptionist gave him a broad smile. "Joe! Welcome back! How are you feeling?"

"Beverly, good to see you. Better, thanks, the physio is helping," he said brightly as he hit the button for the lift.

"By the way, there's going to be a cake for you later." 

He groaned. He loathed office parties. "Tell me he didn't"

"He did. Fancies the pants off of you, that intern of yours. You'll be there won't you?" 

He rolled his eyes. He'd been with ECO UK for over ten years and every year he accepted a paid part time intern and every single one had attempted to seduce him. It had become sort of a running joke at the company. 

"I suppose… since there's cake," he joked and then, as the lift doors opened, said, "'Like an ass in the desert, go I forth to my work…' I'll see you later then, Beverly?" 

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" she called after him as the lift doors closed. 

Fish closed his eyes as the lift ascended up to the fourth floor, the bright smile left his face the minute the lift doors had shut. Physically, he felt fine. Mentally? Well, that was another story. He just hadn't been… right. He couldn't put his finger on it and it was maddening. Since the accident, something had felt off. It wasn't his busted leg. It wasn't the four months missing from his memory. Yes, those things bothered him but there was something else. It was like when you feel something in your eye, go to the mirror and can't see it. But you know it's there, driving you mad. _Maybe I'm stuck in the Matrix_ … he thought with disdain as he put the smile back on his face and stepped out of the lift. 

Thankfully, he didn't run into anyone on the way to his office. His habit of arriving at work over an hour early usually meant he ran into few of his colleagues. He opened his office door and the smile became more genuine at the sight of the humungous bunch of balloons tied to his desk chair. _Very ecofriendly…_ he thought with a chuckle.

He sat down and turned on his computer to start sorting through his e-mail. The noise in the outer office area was slowly rising as his co-workers arrived. A few popped their heads in to wish him well and welcome him back. He was reading a particularly boring memo when, out of habit, he glanced towards his digital picture frame. It was off. He leaned over and flipped the switch on the side and frame sprang to life. He smiled at the photo of him and his sister. He watched as it cycled through a few more pictures and then continued sifting through his e-mail. He'd been largely telecommuting during his recovery but he generally got dozens of e-mails a day. It was why he came in an hour early. 

Something was wrong. He saw it, or rather, didn't see it, out of the corner of his eye. He reached for the frame and pressed the toggle on the side and cycled back through a few of the pictures and then let the slideshow continue. It wasn't there. A picture from his university days was missing. He opened up his bag and rummaged around for his memory stick and plugged it into the frame. 

"Joe! Welcome back!" came the Manchester tones of his boss, Mike Warren. "You're looking a little peaky still…" 

"I'm good, thanks, Mike," he said as he continued to fiddle with the frame.  

"That thing broken?" Miked asked. 

"Not sure," Fish said, his confused deepening. The picture wasn't in his back up folder either. _Probably a glitch…_ he'd restore it when he got home. "A picture's missing…"

"Which one?" Mike asked, leaning over the desk to peer down at the frame. 

"You've seen it, from when I was in America at uni? Green pub booth?" 

"Oh yes, you and… what's her name? That doctor friend of yours?" 

"Yeah, Evie," he said sadly. "She died in a car accident…"

_Wait…_

_Evie?!_  

His eyes went wide and a sharp pain lanced through his head followed by a flood of images and sounds. He gasped, his hands gripping at his temples. _Evie! This is one sexy problem you've sent me… I may be up by Manchester sometime next month… I'm sorry, Fish. I'm so sorry…_ The torrent of memories slamming into his mind stopped suddenly. Fish bent over, barely grabbing his bin in time before he heaved his breakfast into it. 

"Jesus, Joe? Are you all right?!" Mike said, rushing forward to help. 

Fish coughed and gripped at the edge of his desk. "Sudden migraine…" 

"I'm calling you an ambulance," he said reaching for the phone. 

"No, I'm fine… think I'll go home and call my doctor," Fish said, picking up his bag and keys and hobbled out of his office towards the lift, ignoring Mike's protests that he should go straight to the A&E. When he turned out of the ECO UK parking lot, he didn't turn towards home. He drove for Piccadilly station. If he hurried, he could make the half ten to Cardiff Central and be there before two. He knew the schedule. He'd taken that train before.


	3. Chapter 3

"Will! My office! Now!" Jack shouted across the Hub.

"Inside voice, Jack!" Miranda quipped. 

When she walked into his office, Jack was faced away from her, looking at the CCTV screen behind his desk. She was about to ask what was wrong when her eyes settled on the screen. Joseph Fischer was sitting outside the tourist office door on the bench, a cane settled between his legs and his braced leg extended in front of him. 

Jack swiveled in his chair and scowled at her. "I thought you took care of this."

"I did Jack! The retcon. The clean up. Ianto and I both took care of it!" 

At that moment, Ianto stepped into the office, carrying Jack's coffee. He leaned in and saw Fish on the monitor and asked, "What's he doing?"

"Waiting. He's been there 20 minutes," Jack said. 

"Presistent," Ianto noted. 

"Good sign." 

"Dogmatic." 

"Always plus." 

"You two can stop right there with the twin talking," Miranda snapped. "If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting, Jack-" 

"Ianto," Jack said, flatly.

The young Welshman cleared his throat. "Doctor Joseph Fischer. Age 38. Born Perth, Western Australia, 28 July 1971. Extraordinary intellect and academic performance. Accepted Massachusetts Institute of Technology age 16, graduated summa cum laude age 19, physical chemistry, organic chemistry with a minor in chemical engineering. Master's degree, age 21. PhD age 24. Relocated to Manchester, England in 1998 to work for ECO UK developing power cells for hybrid cars. Both parents deceased. One sister, Anna, still residing in Perth. No criminal record." 

"Absolutely not, Jack," she said sternly. "Fish is pushing forty!"

"Ianto," Jack repeated.

"Cross country team for MIT, runs the annual Manchester marathon. Each year his time has qualified him for the Boston Marathon," he recited. 

"No, Jack! I won't allow this! We don't need a chemistry professor!"

Narrowing his eyes at her, Jack rose to his feet, planting his hands on his desk and leaning towards her slightly. 

"You don't get to decide this, Will. He does," pointing at the monitor for emphasis and then himself, "and I do." 

She narrowed her own eyes in return. _This isn't over, Jack…_ "Yes, Captain."

"Good. Gwen!" he straightened and shouted towards his office door. 

When the dark haired former PC leaned into the doorframe, she asked, "Yeah, Jack?"

Jack jerked his thumb at the monitor behind him. "That's Doctor Joseph Fischer."

"Isn't that your chemical engineer friend, Miranda?" she asked, turning to the other woman with a serious look. "Not just popping round for a social call is he?"

"Doctor Fischer has done the maths, added two and two and gotten immortal," Ianto said to Gwen and her eyes went wide. 

Jack crossed his arms over his chest. "You're promoted to recruitment officer."

"What?" Gwen said, eyes getting wider. "Why me?"

"Because Doctor Fischer showed up here about three months ago and these two geniuses assaulted him, retconned him, and covered it up with a car accident," Jack said waving between Ianto and Miranda. When Gwen looked startled, Jack said, "They didn't have a choice, if he'd dug deeper, he would've figured out the rest of us too." 

His defence surprised Miranda.

"We could just let him catch a glimpse of us? Let him follow us?" Ianto offered.

Gwen looked scandalised. "You bastards! That's exactly what you did to me when we first met isn't it?"

Jack and Ianto were trying to smother grins. 

Gwen gave the two men a half sincere glare and asked, "How am I doing this?"

"Improvise, Gwen. I trust you," Jack said. 

"Right… improvise…" she muttered to herself as she walked out of Jack's office for her coat.

The first decision was whether or not to use the tourist office door or go up the invisible lift. _The tourist office_. Fish was already sitting outside it and obviously associated it with whatever he'd discovered about Miranda. She walked out of the main Hub and through the cog wheel door. She took the walk slowly, trying to figure out how she was going to do this.Then she remembered how Jack had done it with her. He'd just talked. 

She unlocked the tourist office door and opened it slowly. By the time she'd walked through it, Fish was making his way to his feet, leaning heavily on the cane to support his braced leg. 

Gwen saw the disappointment when he didn't recognise her. "Doctor Fischer? I'm Gwen Cooper. I'm Torchwood." 

"How do you know my name?" Fish asked sharply. 

"It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you. How about we… erm… just have a seat up on the Plass?" she asked. It was quite chilly out and she considered asking him to step inside the tourist office where it would be warmer but knew he'd probably refuse given what happened the last time. They walked up the ramp slowly, hampered by Fish's cane and then sat down on a bench by the bay. 

"Torchwood, eh? Always wondered if you people were real," Fish said. 

"What do you know about Torchwood?" Gwen asked. 

"My ex-fiance lived in Cardiff. I commuted on weekends. You can't spend any significant time in this city and not hear the word 'Torchwood'," he said with a roll of his eyes. "You people are the worst kept secret in the city. She works for you doesn't she?" 

"You mean Miranda," Gwen said, it wasn't a question.

"No! I mean Evie," he said angrily.

"She's your friend," she said soothingly. Again it wasn't a question.

The anger seemed to deflate out of him a little. "She was my best mate. Lost touch, you know? But that's the way things end up sometimes. She was always there for me. Cheered me on through my dissertation. Paid for me to fly home when my Mum took sick. Flew down for the funeral when she passed. I thought about looking her up a few years ago, when my fiance and I split. Needed a friend, you know? I was real torn up when I'd heard she'd… when I heard about the accident." His voice dropped to a whisper as he asked, "What the fuck is she?"

Gwen wanted to tell him the truth but it wasn't her place. _Immortals and their bloody secrets…_ "Bit overwhelming it is. But it's for Miranda to say. That's what I know her as, anyway. She's our medic."

"Still a doctor…" Fish said, to himself, his head down. "Doesn't matter what you say to me, does it? You're just going to do whatever you did before to make me forget. Or maybe you'll just kill me this time."

"No!" she said. "Doctor Fischer, the world is bigger… It's so much bigger than you think it is," she smiled at him. "How would you like to see it?" 

"What do you mean?" he asked. "See what?" 

"This way," she said brightly then stood up and gestured for him to follow her as she headed for the invisible lift. She dug out her comm unit and popped it into her ear.  

She stopped just in front of the paving stone and waited. _Curiosity got the cat_ … she thought as Fish stood and limped towards her. She gave him a warm smile, looped her arm into his and guided him onto the paving stone. She tightened her grip and tapped her comm unit. 

"We're in place, Jack," she said and then tightened her grip on his arm. "Hang on tight and don't move."

"What do you mean don't-" he broke off when the lift began to descend.


	4. Chapter 4

When the lift had started to move, Fish had tightened his grip on Gwen's arm, startled. When the pterosaur had swooped around them, he'd yelped in surprise. When the former PC had introduced her teammates, he'd been speechless. Now sitting in Torchwood's boardroom, he was stunned and it wasn't because he'd just learned about the existence of aliens. Those had been around for years no matter how much the rest of the world tried to deny it. People standing on rooftops? Alien spacecraft over London? Joseph Fischer prided himself on being a scientist. He believed what he saw. A secret government organisation that dealt with aliens? Not a big leap. Captain Jack Harkness offering him a job with said secret government organisation? Now, that was cause to look around for the flying pig… then again… 

"We're impressed, Doctor Fischer," Jack said. 

"Let me get this straight, Captain Harkness… You're offering me a job? Here? At Torchwood?" Fish asked for the second time. 

"You've seen Myfanwy…" Ianto said, then quickly added at the chemist's confusion, "the pterosaur. The rift is active, dropping all sorts of flotsam and jetsam onto Cardiff." 

"We're outside the government… beyond the police…" Jack said, spitting out the company line. 

Miranda spoke for the first time since the small meeting had begun. She was speaking with an Irish accent that Fish found so strange to his ears. "This your red pill or blue pill moment, Fish."

"What's the catch?" Fish asked. Alien technology won out over hybrid car batteries any day of the week. It was too good to be true. "Is this where you tell me I have to sever every human contact and no one will ever know I exist anywhere?"

"The catch is," Ianto said, catching the reference, "we don't have a pension plan."

The chemist thought he was making a joke, started laughing and said, "I suppose I'll survive."

"No, Fish… you won't," Miranda said, her distaste with the euphemism obvious. "Torchwood will kill you." 

He blanched. "Surely there's a chance…"

Ianto turned in his chair, his expression somber. "The average length of service is five years." 

Fish had no way of knowing that Ianto was approaching that number and that Gwen wasn't far behind. He looked at the faces around the table, open mouthed. "Why do you people do this?"

"The twenty first century is where everything changes. We need to arm the human race for the future," Jack said, tossing out the company line again. 

"I think he meant us mere mortals, Jack," Gwen said dryly. Her eyes leveled with Fish's. "Even now, I get terrified. But at the same time, it is brilliant and beautiful and bloody magic. My life… it's just bigger." 

"And a whole fuck lot shorter… " Fish said, his eyes boring into Miranda. As wonderful as working for Torchwood sounded, he had no intention of signing his own death warrant. _Still…_ "I didn't come here looking for a job. I came here for answers, Evie. Or are the two mutually exclusive?" 

He watched Miranda give Jack a loaded glance. She'd done that a lot during this… he had no idea what to call it. Interrogation? Meeting? Job interview? 

"They aren't," Miranda said and then cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably. "May we have the room, please?" 

The rest of the Torchwood team rose from their seats and started to file out of the boardroom. Jack squeezed her shoulder as he walked by and Fish wondered what there was between the two of them. He hadn't failed to make the connection that the Captain's family name was 'Harkness' and that, like himself, the Captain referred to Miranda by the prior alias of 'Will' which he assumed was short for 'Wilhelmina'. In his exhaustive research into her, Wilhelmina Harkness was a name he had come across. _Perhaps a descendent,_ he had thought initially. But he was a careful listener and heard what people didn't mean to say. Gwen's unintentional comment about 'us mere mortals' had been directed at Jack and implied that she didn't include Jack in that sphere. _And that seems a horse of a whole different color…_

"You haven't aged a day, Evie," he said, once they were alone. His hair was greying. His knees popped when he knelt. Every year, his time in the Manchester marathon became longer and longer. But his friend seemed to have regressed, looking even younger than she had the day they'd met standing in a convenience store line in the middle of the night.  

She ignored his statement and said, "I'm sorry, by the way, Fish… about last time. I was trying to protect you."

"I didn't come here looking for a job, I came here for answers," he repeated. 

She blinked at him, her expression oddly sad, then she bent down, disappearing beneath the table. 

"Evie? What-" he broke off when she emerged with a dagger in her hand and a handkerchief in the other. He jumped a little and tensed.  

"Relax, Fish. I'm not going to hurt you," she said, holding up her hand to calm him. 

"All fucking evidence to the contrary…"  

She scowled across the table at him and quoted, "All I'm offering is the truth, nothing more."

"I guess it's the red pill then, Evie." 

He watched as she inhaled, rolled her shoulders and then exhaled slowly. Calm moved over her face as she opened her eyes and spoke, the Irish accent that sounded so strange to his ears vanished and was replaced by one he couldn't place. "My name is Chen Mao-Lin. I was born long ago in what is now the Sichuan region of the People's Republic of China and I am immortal." 

He watched, open mouthed as she pressed the tip of the clearly sharp blade into her forearm and dragged it across her skin making a deep cut. She put the blade down onto the table and turned her arm towards him, swiping the blood away with the handkerchief so he could see. It was like magic. In mere seconds, the cut sealed itself, vanishing as if it had never been. He couldn't keep the awe out of his voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"That's why," she snapped, angrily, as she continued to wipe her arm with the handkerchief. Her voice had an archaic tone and cadence to it. "You look upon me anew. I'm a curiosity. Something bizarre and abnormal… unnatural."

He wanted to tell her that wasn't true. He wanted to deny it but she was right. He didn't look at her the same way. The scientist within him couldn't stop wondering what secrets her condition could unlock for the rest of humanity. 

Ianto cleared his throat at the doorway, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen in the room. "I beg your pardon, Doctor Fischer. Please excuse the interruption. Mandy? There's a rift alert, a small spike in Canton. The Captain would like for you and Gwen to see to it." 

She replaced the dagger in her boot and got up and walked over to the Welshman. She muttered something to him. The two spoke back and forth briefly in Welsh. The young man finally shook his head and Miranda nodded, walking out of the room. Once she'd left, Ianto clasped his hands behind his back, tilted forward slightly at the waist and said, "Can I get you anything, Doctor Fischer? Some refreshment? Coffee or perhaps some tea?" 

Fish took in Ianto's pristine suit and high shine shoes. "You're the Torchwood butler?" 

"Among other things," Ianto said.  

"Was there really a rift alert or was your Captain looking for an excuse to get Evie out of here so you lot could talk to me alone?" 

The Welshman didn't bother trying to smother his small grin at Fish's perceptiveness. "Just me, Doctor Fischer." 

"And why just you?" 

"Because Evie, as you call her, has made her case and now I shall make mine," he said taking a step forward and straightening his back. "It's true, Doctor Fischer, that no one survives in Torchwood for long. With two notable exceptions, no Torchwood agent has served more than seven years and all have died in the line of duty."

"Are you about to give me a speech about 'Queen and country?'" Fish asked with a snort. "Because you can save it, mate." 

"I wouldn't consider anything so droll. Yes, Torchwood serves the Crown," he said, "but a great man once said, 'It is not his to boast who loveth his country, but it is his who loveth the world.'"

"Baha'u'llah…" said Fish, the great lover of quotations. 

"Indeed," the younger man reached into his suit jacket pocket and produced two bent photographs, the corners worn away. "Those who fall in the line of duty here, Doctor Fischer, fall defending the human race."

"Doctor Owen Harper," he said, laying the first photograph gently onto the table. He laid down the second just as gently. "Toshiko Sato… They both sacrificed themselves to prevent a meltdown at the Turnmill Nuclear Power Plant. Their deaths saved countless others." 

The man in the first photograph was dark haired with high cheekbones. The woman was a pretty Asian with fringe and olive coloured skin. Fish remembered the news story. Two years ago there had been a number of natural gas explosions in Cardiff along with a warning siren at the Turnmill Nuclear Power Plant that had turned out to be a false alarm brought on by tremors from the explosions. _A cover story…_ He'd never seen either face on the news or in the papers. 

"The ultimate sacrifice…" he whispered.

He didn't think it was possible but Ianto stood up straighter, leaving the pictures on the table and clasping his hands behind his back again. 

"Evie is very selective about whom she calls 'friend'. You're a good man, Doctor Fischer. You're working on the next hybrid car battery because you're the kind of man who acknowledges that there is more to the world than himself," Ianto said and gave him a piercing look. "You are the good man who does something."


	5. Chapter 5

_Blast…_ Fish thought as he failed, yet again, to open the alien device. He'd been at it all morning. The artefact had come through last night. Jack hadn't recognised it but thought it was possibly a medical device of some sort. Eager to get back into Miranda's good graces, he'd set to work on trying to figure out or repair the device. _Head in the game, Fischer…_  

The fact of the matter was that he'd known for several attempts that he would never be able to open the device. He suspected that another specialised tool or device was required to open the cap on the end. Without it, he was fighting a losing battle. But at the moment he was using his work as a distraction from the muffled shouting coming from Jack's office. Even though Miranda had been in there nearly fifteen minutes, the shouting had only just started and he knew that his recent request for field training was the cause. His arrival at Torchwood had strained the team dynamic and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. 

The most affected team member was Miranda. She had taken Fish aside on his very first day to better explain her and Jack's… unique condition. Since then the medic had been in a positively foul mood, speaking to him only on a professional basis and shunning all attempts he had made at rekindling their friendship. It was clear the immortal woman didn't want him here. To say he was hurt would be an understatement. 

Miranda and Fish had once been thick as thieves. In all his life, Fish had never had a friend that he could rely on as much as he could Miranda. When she gave him her word, she meant it. She was a steadfast friend, supportive and wise. He had always been able to go to her for advice or a shoulder. After he'd moved to the UK, he'd been so engrossed in his work that the two of them had lost touch. He'd always regretted it and when he'd found out that his friend had 'died' in a car accident, he'd been devastated. He'd wish that he had put in more of an effort into maintaining their friendship. He'd remembered all the good times he'd had with Miranda and lamented all the lost moments. _Of all the words of mice and men the saddest are - it might have been…_ Now, he'd learned his friend was alive and well. This was a second chance and he didn't understand why she was treating him so coldly. 

Ianto had tried his best to keep the peace, running interference between his lover and his friend. Fish could see that it was beginning to taking its toll on the young Welshman who had begun hiding in the archives more and more, coming up to the main Hub only to distribute coffee and food. He had disappeared down the east stairs early this morning and Fish hadn't seen him since. 

The dashing Captain was starting to act stressed and tense, spending time atop the roofs of the city. Fish didn't even want to think about what manners of domestics were going on after he and Gwen left since Ianto, Jack and Miranda all lived at the Hub. 

Even the bright and cheerful Gwen was uneasy and anxious and made the excuse to go out into the field as often as possible to escape the tension. Although, right now, the former PC was at her workstation now, typing a report. 

Fish winced as the sound of a hand impacting a desk echoed through the Hub. He turned his attention back to the device in front of him, trying to bury himself under his work. He didn't notice that Gwen had gotten up from her desk and was standing behind him. 

"Fish? Fancy a coffee?" she asked. 

All the Torchwood team members had adopted Miranda's nickname for him. He had tried to get everyone to call him Joe but that had barely lasted a day. The nickname had started when he was in secondary and whenever Miranda called him Fish, it made him feel like an awkward teenager. _And now the whole bloody team is doing it…_  

"Ianto not about? I wanted to see if I could get this device opened up by lunchtime-" They both snapped their heads around at the sound of another fist impacting Jack's desk. _Maybe we should get out of the line of fire…_ "On second thought that sounds like a great idea… I'll just get my coat." 

The two rode the invisible lift up to the Plass and walked on in silence. It was mid-morning and the coffee shop was mostly deserted. They ordered and found a small table in a far corner away from the other customers. The two drank in silence for a little while, Fish lost in thought.

He had worked for ECO UK for over a decade. Even though he kept his personal and profession lives separate, he got on well with them and ECO UK had been his home away from home. His boss, Mike Warren, had offered him anything he could think of to try to get him to stay but Fish had been adamant. It was time for him to move on. Eager to start his work with Torchwood, he'd stayed on at ECO UK just long enough to ensure his projects were properly transitioned to other researchers. He'd dipped into his savings and let a modest flat in Roath. But the excitement he'd felt when he'd started working for Torchwood was waning. He felt like an outsider in a tight knit group, upsetting the delicate balance within, like some sort of introduced predator destroying the local ecosystem. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd cause such a ruckus," Fish said, staring into his cup. 

"It's not your fault. Miranda… well her and Jack are protective of us. We're fragile to them," Gwen said. 

"I'm an adult. I can make my own choices," said Fish with an air of frustration. He knew the way Jack and Miranda tended to condescend from time to time was a source of annoyance for all the mortal members of the team. Fish was staring down the barrel at forty and he found it incredibly irritating. 

"We're all children to them," Gwen said. 

"How old are the two of them anyway?" Fish asked. It was one of the many things he hadn't asked Miranda. When she had more thoroughly explained her immortality, his natural curiosity had bubbled with questions but he held them back, not wanting to stir the already choppy waters between him and his old friend. 

"Don't know." Gwen looked out of the coffee shop window at the bay. "Immortals and their secrets. I used to think it was just Jack but Miranda's no different." 

"She's afraid I look at her different… like a freak or something," Fish said with regret. 

Gwen nodded. "The two of them try to hold on to normal as much as they can. Jack's always on about not letting things drift. I think because normal's not possible for either of them." 

Jack had said the same thing to him a few times over the past month. At first, he hadn't fully understood but as the rose tinted shades had faded, things had become more clear. Life within Torchwood was so surreal in comparison to anything else that when he descended into the Hub, he often felt like he was falling down the rabbit hole. He often wondered how Ianto stayed so grounded since he lived at the Hub and had no clear separation between his personal and professional life. When Fish had worked at ECO UK, he'd go home at the end of the day, leaving work at work, easily settling into his home life. Now that same transition felt forced.

He sipped his coffee again and pulled a face. "Ianto has me spoiled." 

"How are you liking it? The work, I mean?" 

"It's like you said… bloody brilliant," he said with a broad smile. "Christ, how can you do any other job after this one?" 

"We all feel that way," she said with a weak smile. 

"It's still so dangerous," he said, allowing himself to voice his fear aloud for the first time. "All the precautions we take? All the protocols? 'Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower… safety,'" he quoted as he looked out over the bay. The dangers of the job had been clearly explained to him when he'd started and while he tried not to think about it, he wouldn't deny that it kept him up some nights. 

Gwen knew which precautions he meant. Since Miranda's arrival, Jack had implemented new safety protocols that Ianto had affectionately dubbed 'The Warder's Orders.' Gwen and Ianto were starting to lose count as to how many times they owed their lives to either of the immortals. She'd heard about Miranda's very first day, how her and Jack had gone to investigate first, telling Mickey and Martha to hang back. Had the two mortals been standing next to either Jack or Miranda when the Pyraxian grenade had gone off, they would have been seriously injured or more likely permanently maimed. Even more likely? They would have been killed. Fish had yet to be put into either immortal's debt as he was not working in the field but that was about to change. Miranda was none too pleased, hence the rather loud argument that had caused Gwen and Fish to flee the Hub.   

"Are you certain you want to start field work at your age? Err... I mean…" she said trying to remove her foot from her mouth. 

"It's okay, Gwen. I know I'm no spring chicken," he said with a chuckle. "Jack said pretty much the same thing. I'd be back-up only. Plus… the Hub isn't impenetrable. I need to learn to defend myself. I don't want to be a liability." 

"We'll get you trained up. And don't worry about Miranda, she'll come around," Gwen said with a smile. "Listen, Rhys is making a spag bol tonight. Why not stop by? Have a nice home cooked meal? New Zealand is playing Wales." 

Fish was surprised by Gwen's invitation. He hadn't yet met her husband. He'd heard the whole team speak about the lorry driver who helped the team out from time to time. Rhys Williams was their unofficial team member. He often wondered how Gwen managed to maintain her relatively normal life outside of Torchwood. Since moving to Cardiff he had little else in his life except his work and spent most of his time at the Hub, sometimes working late into the night. He didn't mind the late nights and sometimes he found it hard to tear himself away from the work to go home and sleep. A night of rugby, real food and friends sounded like just what he needed.


	6. Chapter 6

After rinsing the last of the soap from her body, Miranda turned off the shower and opened the door, a puff of dense steam escaping. She bent down towards the towel warmer Ianto had given her for Christmas. The towel wasn't there. Instead, it was suspended in mid-air in front of her face. Startled, she looked up and saw Jack standing in the room, the towel in his outstretched hand. She took it from him as she stepped out of the stall. 

Even though the two of them had once shared the storage rooms turned flat, the two immortals were no longer together. Long ago, they had both acknowledged that their time as a couple had come and gone and even though they were occasional lovers, they weren't now. Since Miranda had decided to move into the Hub, they had both respected each other's privacy. This was the first time that Jack had entered the flat without invitation or permission. Miranda wasn't angry but the intrusion piqued her curiosity. 

"Something you needed, Jack?" she said dryly as she ran the towel through her hair. She made no move to cover herself. She wasn't displaying anything Jack hadn't already seen but the lack of even so much as an appreciative glance in her direction had deepened her curiosity into concern. She was beginning to wonder if maybe he and Ianto had had a row this morning. If Ianto had retreated to the archives to brood, Jack would be here to vent. 

"Just wanted to talk," he said with a shrug. He followed her into the bedroom and sat down on the bed. 

"About what?" she asked. _Doesn't seem to be in a venting mood…_ She crossed to the dresser and then the closet, selecting clothes for the day. She sat down on the upholstered bench at the end of the bed and started to dress.  

"Fish." 

"What about him?" she asked, rolling her eyes even though she knew Jack would see it in the dresser mirror in front of her. _I would've rather he and Ianto have had a row…_

"He's been here over a month and I need to know why you're treating him like the team pariah," he said gently, trying not to rouse her formidable temper. 

"Because he doesn't belong here, Jack," she said tersely, without turning around.

"You keep saying that, but I need to know the real reason, Will." 

He paused waiting for her to answer. She continued to dress, not turning around. When she didn't answer him, he stood up and sat down next to her on the bench. She was fussing with her t-shirt, arranging it so she could put it on. He turned slightly towards her, his leg pressed against hers and laid a hand on her thigh. He said quietly, "It's just us here, Will. I'm not the Captain and you're not my second." 

She stopped fiddling with the t-shirt and sighed. When she finally spoke, the words escaped slowly and her voice was filled with a quiet anguish. "Joseph Fischer is a good man… a kind man. Before Torchwood, the worst thing that could have happened to him would be getting caught without an appropriate quotation. The things you and I have done to protect this planet? To protect humanity? Do you think I want those things to taint him?" 

Jack understood the objection and it certainly made more sense than the others she had brought up time and again. Right now, Fish was excelling at his job, throwing himself into it with almost boyish abandon. Jack and Miranda had both seen it before. In a world that had yet to have its first contact, the idea of being a part of something like Torchwood seemed almost like a fantastical dream. Both immortals knew that all too soon the shine would tarnish as the cold reality of the job set in. In fact, Jack could tell that it already was. If Miranda was afraid of seeing her light hearted friend becoming jaded, he still didn't understand the cold shoulder Miranda was pushing in Fish's direction. Surely repairing their friendship would only help to keep Fish grounded. 

"What? You make his life here miserable so he leaves?"  

"No, Jack. It's too late. I know he won't leave. He's Torchwood," she said with the same quiet anguish. Her eyes filled with sadness. She knew how Torchwood was like an entity into itself. It got into the blood and the brain and entrenched itself into your life. Torchwood isn't something you do. Torchwood is something you are. 

"What's going on, Will?" he asked softly. 

Jack watched the sadness in her honey brown eyes replaced with a rigid stoicism as she said, "I'm second-in-command here, Jack. When Torchwood kills him, I'm loading an employee into a drawer downstairs." 

Of all the answers he expected, this wasn't one of them. The two of them had been through a lot together over the past half century. She'd been there for him as he suffered through the slings and arrows of life. Year after year, it was always Miranda who told him over and over that he couldn't keep those he loved in a bubble or shield his own heart. Year after year, it was always Miranda telling him that love and friendship were always worth the heartache and pain of the eventual loss. He was shocked and enraged by the hypocrisy she was displaying. 

Angry, he sneered, "It's Torchwood that's giving you two a second chance. You're the one wasting it. Maybe what he needs is a better friend."

"How dare you!" she exclaimed, springing to her feet. "Do you have any idea how many graves I've stood over? How many good people like Fish I've buried?" 

Jack rose to face her, standing his ground. "Friend or not, you're going to stand over his grave someday." 

He could feel the argument building between them. Not for the first time since she'd returned to Torchwood, Jack was reminded sharply of their disastrous marriage. This time, he knew he had won the argument. She was holding his gaze but she had fallen silent, not answering him. _Gotcha…_  

Satisfied he'd made his point, Jack headed for the door. As he was leaving, something she'd said to him about Ianto flashed into his mind. He paused at the doorway, deciding to ram his point home by throwing her own words back at her. 

"An eternity in front of you won't bring back the hour that's already behind you."


	7. Chapter 7

Once his field training began, Joseph Fischer endured endless hours of what he came to know as Torchwood Torture. His days began in the firing range with Gwen and ended in the gym with Miranda. Jack assessed his progress every week. It had taken six long weeks but he had finally progressed to Jack and Miranda's satisfaction and received clearance for limited field work. 

Jack had just gone to fetch lunch. It was normally Ianto's job but Jack apparently had lost some sort of bet and had gone to fetch the take-away himself, muttering something about measuring tapes. No sooner had the immortal man left the Hub than an alert had come through. Miranda had chosen to take him out to investigate a small spike off Eastern Avenue by the Cathays Cemetery. The two of them were now combing through the overgrown brush between Eastern Avenue and Wedal Road. So far they'd found nothing but trash. 

 _Saving the world… one beer bottle at a time…_ he thought with amusement _._ The job wasn't always glamourous but he wouldn't trade it for anything. 

"Evie! Over here, I think I've found something!" he shouted towards her over the roar of the passing cars. He hung back waiting for her since the standing orders were that Jack or Miranda investigated first. It was his first time out in the field and there was no way he was going to cock this up. When she parted the weeds, Fish looked over her shoulder and saw what looked like a giant bean pod, mottled brown with pink and green stripes.

"What's that then?" he asked, bending down for a closer look. 

"Don't know, never seen anything like it before. Get a containment box out of the boot and the protective gloves," she said handing him her keys. "We shouldn't touch it." 

By the time he'd returned with the containment box and the gloves, the light drizzle had turned to rain. 

"Bloody Welsh weather…" he muttered under his breath.

She took the gloves from him. After she'd put them on, she crouched down and noticed the pod was absorbing the rain water that had begun to pool around it. Without standing, she warned, "Fish. Step back. Now." 

The urgency in her voice had him obeying immediately. He managed to retreat a few steps before one end of the pod exploded, dousing Miranda's right arm and shoulder in a thick pink liquid. It started dissolving away her coat sleeve. 

"Goddess below!" she stood and yanked the gloves and coat off her body then tossed everything to the ground. She started examining her hand and blouse. "Fish, my sword is in the lining. Take it out, carefully. I don't know what that stuff will do to it." 

It took him a moment to locate the concealed flap and work it open but the sword appeared undamaged. 

"Wow," he said as he looked up and down the length of the Chinese jian with appreciation. 

"Do me a favor and lay it across the back seat? I'll have to clean it later." 

"Sure," he gave the sword an experimental swing, feeling its weight. It was lighter than he expected it to be. The deep green tassel on the end surprised him. The decoration seemed superfluous and even dangerous, something an enemy could grab. 

Just as he opened his mouth to point it out, the pod at their feet exploded. What could only be described as a ribbon with teeth, flew out of the end and headed straight for Miranda. Fish reacted, slicing downward with the sword already in his hands, cleaving the creature in two. The pieces fell to the ground, dead. 

"Thanks for that!" she said with a laugh. 

"What the fuck is that thing?" he asked, his arms still quaking from the adrenaline. He didn't lower the sword as he leaned over to where it had fallen. 

"I recognise it now. It's an Hirudian helminth," she poked at the dead creature with her shoe. "You just saved my life, Fish." 

"Is that phrase even applicable to you?" he said sarcastically. The adrenaline was easing out of his system and he was feeling decidedly cranky. "It was attacking?" 

She shook her head. "No, looking for food. After they attach, the mouth has a long proboscis-like tongue that burrows down to the largest major vein or artery so it can feed. Once they attach you can't remove them, it would have exsanguinated me."

"Shit! What do we do with it?" he looked down at the creature again, still not ready to lower the sword in his hands. He spared a thought to how ridiculous he must look to any passing motorists. 

Miranda gently took the sword from him. "It's dead now. I'm going to get the other pair of gloves from the boot. We can put it into the containment box." 

In only a few short minutes, the pair were on their way back to the Hub, the creature, pod and Miranda's ruined coat safely inside of a containment box in the boot of the car. 

"Great job out there. You did really well for your first field mission," she said. 

"I didn't do anything, Evie. I loaded a dead worm, a bean pod and a coat into a containment box." He winced a little at her tone. He could tell she was in full on 'second-in-command' mode. 

"You followed protocol. Your quick reaction to the pod bursting saved me from a slow death and a painful resurrection," she said and smiled at him, softening her tone. "You did good, Fish." 

The two drove on in a comfortable silence for a while. She seemed to be in a good mood so Fish decided to risk another stab at their old friendship. 

"So what's with you and Captain America?" he asked. 

"You mean Jack?" 

"No, I mean the pterodactyl… yes, I mean Jack. And drop that accent, it doesn't suit you." 

"I'm afraid it's not my story to tell and you're outvoted on the accent," she said, thickening the Irish brogue slightly. 

"Partially it is and I'm not talking about the past, Evie. I'm talking about now." 

"How is it any of your business?" she asked, harshly.  

"You're my friend. At least, I thought we were friends," he said and looked out his window. He'd made several attempts to reach out to her and she had shunned each one. Now, frustrated, he'd let the truth slip out for the first time and his voice was full of hurt and regret. 

Jack had ambushed her a few days ago, chastising her for her behaviour towards their newest team member. Miranda knew her behaviour was petulant and wrong. She'd always known it and yes, a bit she'd hoped that Fish would accept the retcon and leave. Whether it was because of Torchwood or not, one day she'd stand over Fish's grave regardless. Torchwood was certain to make that day come sooner rather than later but she was wasting this second chance with anger. It needed to stop. 

Her alias, Evelyn Wei had aged to a point that she could no longer successfully imitate. When she had faked her death, she'd done what she'd always done. She'd mourned the friends she'd leave behind when she moved on. She'd been through the process before. She had said goodbye to Joseph Fischer. And now here he was, back in her life. He was caught up in Torchwood and knew the truth of the Game. He had looked on her differently than he had before at first but that had faded. It was only a matter of time before these attempts at friendship slowed and then stopped all together. 

"Jack is my ex-husband," she said simply. 

"Your _ex-_ husband?" Fish said, surprised he'd received an answer. "You're divorced?"

"Not exactly," she said.

He could tell that there was far more to the story than she was telling him but it had taken him over two months to get her to open up to him and he didn't want to push it. 

"So right now, you two aren't…?" he asked hesitantly. 

"No, we're not. We do occasionally. But no, not now. Right now, we're just friends." 

"Now he's with Ianto?"

She nodded, stopping at the red traffic light. "Now he's with Ianto."

"And they're exclusive?" Fish asked. 

While she waited for the light to change, she took in Fish's odd expression and the strange tone to his voice. Many people thought Jack Harkness incapable of monogamy and fidelity but Miranda knew better. Jack was loyal to a fault and tended to follow the lead of whomever he was with. Her and Jack's nearly five year relationship had been exclusive and she knew that Jack's relationship with Ianto had also been exclusive for some time now. Then she saw the blush creeping up out of the collar of Fish's t-shirt and it dawned on her. "Ianto and Jack invited you into their bed didn't they?" 

"What? Wait, how did this subject get turned around to me?" he asked defensively, but he knew the blush surging up his face would say everything. 

"They did!" she exclaimed with a laugh as she parked her car in the Hub garage. 

"I'm not into men, Evie," he said firmly, as the blush deepened. No sooner had the car stopped than he got out, hoping to leave the subject inside the car. That night, just over a month after he'd joined Torchwood, had been the most awkward of his life. While his polite refusal had been taken in stride by the two men, he hadn't been able to look either Jack or Ianto in the eye for days afterward. 

Miranda got out of the car and stood up as well, shooting him a devilish grin across the roof of the car. "There's not being into men, Fish… and then there's Jack Harkness."

He turned to glare at her, the frown deepening when he saw the bemused look on her face. He didn't answer. Flustered, he headed for the boot so he could haul out the containment box. Miranda crossed over to help him. Thankfully, she seemed to have dropped the subject. 

 With a smile, she helped him heave the containment box out of the boot. The two of them walked towards the main Hub, the box between them. Fish took the box from her and headed towards the autopsy bay. He'd leave the box on the table so she could dissect the worm later. On his way down, he passed Ianto and Gwen, leaning between them briefly to see what they were looking at.  

They were both standing at his work table, staring down at something that looked like solid a cylinder of polished metal. It was slightly flared at one end, as if it fit into something else. He thought it looked like a piece from a faucet. 

"Guess that's next on my list…" he said with a sarcastic laugh as he continued into the autopsy bay. 

Miranda was standing next to Gwen, looking down at the strange object.

"Where'd that come from?" she asked, fearing she already knew the answer. 

Gwen said, "There was another small rift alert after you and Fish left. It was right up on the bay so Ianto and I took care of it." 

Miranda let out an angry sigh. It was the answer she'd expected. "Gwen, you have to stop breaking protocol like that. Jack and I are supposed to go on these field calls for a reason." 

While Torchwood wasn't technically a government agency, it was run like one. There was a certain amount of paperwork and procedure involved. Jack and Miranda tended to be quite loose in the enforcement of many of those procedures and protocols with a single exception, the safety protocols Jack had implemented after Miranda had returned to the team. 

Much to the two immortal's chagrins, Ianto had dubbed them 'The Warder's Order's'. One of the immortals was always on duty and went out on every field call, no exceptions. Jack and Miranda always took point, again no exceptions. When the team split up, an immortal member of the team was always paired with a mortal one, also without exception. For the most part, Gwen and Ianto followed the procedure but the two of them regularly saw to smaller spikes either on their own or with each other when Jack or Miranda weren't available. It was something that Miranda was trying desperately to change. The size of the rift spike had nothing to do with the level of danger.  

"It looks like a faucet," Fish said, pushing through to his table between Ianto and Gwen. 

"It was just a small spike, Mandy," Ianto said. "It was right up on the bay." 

"It doesn't matter how small the spike is, Ifan. Jack or I go on all field calls, no exceptions," she said sternly. Their immortality wasn't the only factor in the decision. The two immortals were also the more experience field agents, Jack having served Torchwood for over a century and Miranda over two decades. The cog wheel door opened and the proximity alarms sounded as Jack walked into the Hub, carrying take-away bags. 

Miranda looked up and shouted in Jack's direction. "Jack! Back me up here. Will you tell these two they can't keep breaking protocol?" 

"What? What happened?" Jack said angrily as he walked towards them after dropping the take-away bags on Gwen's workstation. He came up behind Miranda's shoulder and blanched. "Oh no… oh no, no, no! Did any of you touch it?!" 

Ianto turned, startled by Jack's vehemence. "No, sir, we used the gloves." 

Jack was carefully scrutinising each of them. "Who found it?"

"We did, Ianto and I… there was a small spike right above us, up by the bay. It was on the dock," Gwen said, her brow crinkled with confusion. 

"I want each of you inside of a cell. Now!" Jack ordered. 

"What?! Why?!" Gwen shouted in protest. 

"Now, Gwen! All of you!" Jack ordered again, drawing his gun and backing away from the four of them. 

"But why, Jack?!" she questioned again even as Ianto, Fish and Miranda were moving towards the east stairs to obey. 

Jack's expression hardened and he pointed his gun straight at Gwen's face. "Don't make me do this, Gwen." 

She gulped and fell in line behind the others, mutely allowing Jack to lock her into a cell. Once each one of them was secured, Jack left them, returning to the main Hub and Gwen began to hotly protest their situation. The three other team members tried to calm her to no avail. After nearly half an hour, all their nerves were starting to fray. 

"We need to trust him, Gwen," Ianto said for what was probably the thousandth time. 

"He could have at least said what he suspicions were!" said Gwen, also probably for the thousandth time. 

"Gwen, shut up," Fish snapped. "For the last time, Jack knows something we don't. I'm sure he's upstairs sorting it right now. It's not like he's locked us all down here so he can go and have a wank." 

"But Jack-"

"Fish is right, Gwen. So sit back, be patient and shut your gob," Miranda snapped. 

To everyone's relief, Gwen finally fell silent. It was some time later that they all heard Jack's booted footsteps coming down the stairs. 

"Jack! What's going on? Jack? Can you let us out now?" Gwen shouted. 

He didn't answer her. Miranda rose to her feet as the doorway in the back of her cell swung open. Jack stepped through, Webley in hand. 

"Sorry about this, Will," he said as he raised the revolver, pointed it at her head and pulled the trigger.


	8. Chapter 8

Miranda gasped and jerked, her whole body aflame. Every inch of skin felt raw, like thousands of needles were piercing every inch of her. The dim light of the corridor was blurred and she saw only darkness. Fighting down panic, she tried to push herself off the concrete floor and felt strong arms around her. Fear shot through her and she started to struggle. 

"Will! Stop!"  

"Jack?" she heaved a few breaths as the pain receded and Jack's face came into focus. "What the bloody hell did you shoot me for?" 

"It was the only way I could be certain it was you." 

When Jack helped her to her feet, she saw the long smear of blood from where he'd dragged her out into the hallway. She lifted her hand to her head. It was throbbing slightly. There was a minimal amount of brain and bone splattered in the cell. _A head shot from Jack's Webley, small exit wound… I've been down less than fifteen minutes…_

She got to her feet, wiping her bloodied hand on her ruined shirt. "You're cleaning that mess up. What's going on, Jack?" 

"Not down here, back upstairs," he said. 

Once they'd gotten upstairs, Miranda headed into the autopsy bay and stuck her head into the sink to rinse away the blood. Jack was behind her, a towel in one hand and a change of shirt for her in the other. The water coming off her hair was still bloody but she could tell there wasn't time for anything more thorough. She started unbuttoning her blouse and untucking it from her trousers as she followed him to Fish's work table. 

He pointing at the "faucet" piece. "It's a Bastillite reliquary." 

"And you're going to tell me what that is, right, Jack?" she snapped. Getting shot in the head tended to make her surly. 

"When I'm from, it's a form of punishment in the Erudis cluster. The person's consciousness is downloaded into it and their body's put into cryostasis. It's for when people have to serve multiple life sentences." Jack picked up the "faucet" piece and laid the shirt over Fish's chair. "When the convict is up for parole or evaluation, their consciousness is downloaded from this to a voluntary receptacle, another person, for the hearing or evaluation. It's done by touch." 

"I take it you're touching that thing now because it's empty?" she said rhetorically as she tossed her soiled blouse into a nearby bin. 

He nodded. "It's empty. But it wasn't when it got here."

"So there's a criminal's consciousness inside Ianto or Gwen?" Miranda exclaimed. 

"Or Fish," Jack said simply. 

"Not Fish. We were out on a call when the artefact came through. It would be Ianto or Gwen. Or someone else who touched the item before them," she said and picked up the clean shirt from Fish's chair. It was one of Jack's blue dress shirts. _Was it really that much harder to walk down to my room? I'm going to be swimming in this…_ she thought and then something dawned on her. 

She said angrily, "That's why you shot me? You had no way of knowing that my death and resurrection would expel an alien consciousness!" 

"It's always a pretty safe bet that one of us dying and coming back is a good reset button." 

"That was a hefty gamble, Jack! You should have at least left me locked in the cell to revive alone!" 

"We can discuss it later, Will," Jack said, tossing the empty reliquary onto the table. "Whoever touched that is in serious trouble. The downloaded consciousness will root itself in the receptacle. Hearings have a time limit of what's roughly four hours on Earth. After that, the receptacle's own consciousness will be expelled and replaced by the one from the reliquary." 

"By the Gods… Ianto? Gwen?" she gasped out. "The CCTV footage. We need Fish. We can narrow the area they found it. See if either one of them touched it or if it was touched by someone else." 

"We don't have the technology to return the consciousness to the reliquary," Jack said.

Miranda laid a hand on his shoulder. She heard the unspoken fear. "I'm going to go let Fish out of the cell. We'll figure it out, Jack." 

Another precious hour had passed while Jack and Miranda searched the digitised portion of the archives for anything remotely resembling the Erudis technology and Fish searched the CCTV network. All of them knew that Ianto would have been far more efficient and effective when it came to the archives, but he was still locked in a cell downstairs. 

"Jack? Evie?" Fish called out. "I think I've narrowed it down!"

The two immortals crossed over to him quickly from their own workstations to look over the Australian's shoulder. "It took me a while to find an angle of the dock that had the artefact in it. I had to piece together a few feeds to get it at the right times. Here watch," he said, playing the footage for them. 

The three watched in silence. There was a small flash of light and the metal piece fell to the dock, rolling slightly until it lodged itself between two wooden slats. 

"That's when it came through. I watched a few of the different feeds from there. It was topside for about two minutes before… well, here, let me move it forward," Fish said, rapidly clicking to bring the correct video footage up on the screen. "And bring up a different angle. Watch…" 

A boy of no more than ten appeared in the frame. He practically pounced on the shiny metal, picking it up from where it had fallen. The moment he picked up the fallen object, he became still, standing statuesque with the reliquary clutched in his hands. The mother hurried up to her child, taking the metal away from him and dropping it on the ground. When his mother tried to lead him away, the boy remained rooted on the spot, almost catatonic. After a firm shake from his mother, the boy began to fight against the woman's grip in what appeared to be a typical childish tantrum. Angry, the mother picked her son up despite his kicking and screaming and walked away. 

"Gwen and Ianto show up about five minutes later," Fish said sadly. 

"How long ago was that, Fish?" Jack asked. 

"One hour, forty eight minutes since the kid touched it." 

Miranda stood up. "I'm going to let Ianto and Gwen out of the cells. We need to find this kid." 

It took less than ten minutes to get everyone herded into the boardroom and up to speed. Jack was standing at the head of the boardroom table, arms crossed over his chest as he laid out the plan.  

"Ianto? I need you to search the archives. Anything remotely like this technology or from that area or time. We need to know if we have anything we can use to put the consciousness back into the reliquary. Fish? If he finds something, I'm going to need you on it but until then work on the CCTV footage. We need an ID on the kid or the mother. Gwen? I need you to work with the local police. Any report of any missing child filed in the last few hours." Jack tried to hide the pained expression on his face. "We have less than two hours to find this kid. Let's go everyone. Will? We need to talk a minute." 

The team filed out of the boardroom quickly, each turning to the tasks assigned. Once they were alone, Jack walked towards the foot of the table, Miranda's usual spot, his arms still folded across his chest. The look on his face somber. 

He dropped his voice to ensure they weren't overheard. "The Erudis don't hand out multiple life sentences a lot. Like I said before, it's for the serious criminals, serial rapists, mass murders, war criminals…" 

Miranda said quietly so her voice didn't drift, "This child has a psychopath taking up residence in his head." 

Jack nodded. "Best case scenario? We find this kid in time and we manage to get the consciousness back into the reliquary. The experience will have made him insane. We'll have to take him to Flat Holm." Jack looked down at his boots. "Worst case scenario…"  

Neither immortal met the other's gaze. It wasn't the first time they'd faced something like this during their years in Torchwood together. They both knew the worst case scenario and neither of them wanted to voice it aloud. 

Miranda looked down at her hands and said, her voice hollow, "I'll take care of it when the time comes. Quick and painless." 

"You don't need-"

"Jack," she said simply, staring Jack in the eyes.  

He nodded at her and reached out for her hand, cradling it between his own. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, steeling themselves. They both started when Fish came into the boardroom at a run.

"I found him Jack!"  

The two immortals sprinted after him to his workstation. "I did what you said, followed the CCTV footage. It took a bit but I got a few clear images for facial recognition. I got a hit in the driver database. I uploaded the address to the SUV's sat-nav. I used the cameras, followed the car. She took him home." 

"Yes!" Jack cheered and clapped Fish on the shoulder. "Good work, Fish. All of you stay here. Fish? Have Ianto or Gwen set up a cell. Will? With me."


	9. Chapter 9

With Jack driving, it was a short trip to a quiet section of Roath. When the two immortals arrived at the mid-terraced home, the front door was slightly open. Guns drawn, the pair slowly made their way into the house. The sweet metallic tang of blood made Miranda wrinkle her nose. The only sound they could hear was a television in the lounge, blasting a children's programme. The boy was sitting cross legged on the floor of the lounge, staring wide eyed at the telly. Beside him was his mother, curled on her side with a knife sticking out of her neck. 

Jack and Miranda advanced slowly on the gruesome scene. The woman had bled out, the wound in her neck sending an arterial spray up the side-wall and across the ceiling. A large pool of blood had formed around her head that her son was now sitting in. The boy's face and neck were spattered with blood as was his right hand. 

Jack advanced on the boy, gripping him by the arm and hurling him to his feet. The boy looked dazed, almost catatonic. He was unarmed. Miranda bent down and felt for a pulse on the mother even though she knew she would find none. 

"She's dead," she said as she watched Jack securing the boy's hands behind his back with plastic restraints. An idea struck her. "Jack? Maybe we should leave him for the police."

"What do you mean?" 

"He's clearly the perpetrator here. It's a homicide and he's a minor. The Crown Court would sentence him to detention at Her Majesty's pleasure." 

Jack shook his head. "This case would become big news, Will. We can't have that kind of media attention and we can't help him if he's locked up with the South Wales Police." 

"We can't help him anyway, Jack," she said softly. "This is all a fool's errand."

"I know, but we still have to try." He nodded to the lounge doorway. "Go check the rest of the house and get me a blanket to wrap him in. We can march him out to the SUV like this. And Will? Be careful."

Miranda kept her gun drawn and moved through the house carefully. It was empty. She took the comforter from the boy's bed and ransacked the mother's bedroom, removing any valuables. She also took the mother's purse. It would make the scene look like a home invasion gone wrong. 

"The boy's name is Aaron Finn," she said, looking at the mother's driving licence and the name on the drawings on the refrigerator. "Let's get him back to the Hub and into a cell." 

They both knew that they had precious little time as Miranda sped through the streets of Cardiff back to the Hub with Aaron secured in the back seat with Jack. He was on his comm unit, signaling ahead to Ianto and the others. The boy still hadn't made a sound. 

"Ianto hasn't found anything in the archives yet. I want you on that with him. Fish is getting a cell ready," he said as she parked the SUV in the Hub's garage. Jack lifted the child out of the back seat. The boy was still silent, staring off into nothing. 

"I should probably examine him before we put him into a cell," she said as the two walked down the hallway towards the main Hub.

"We don't have time. I want you working the archives with Ianto."

Reluctantly she agreed. Jack was right, the boy appeared to be physically unharmed and the clock was ticking even though the two immortals knew there was little hope. 

When they reached the main Hub, Jack turned towards the east stairs, leading the blood spattered child by the arm down to the cells. 

"He's just a little boy…" Gwen said sadly. 

Miranda understood why Jack had hired Gwen. Her humanity, her compassion and her conscience were assets normally. But not here. Miranda understood all too well how looks could be deceiving. An old friend of hers, Dallman Ross, had taken in an immortal child thinking him innocent and helpless. The boy appeared to be little older than the child now in their custody but he was, in fact, over eight hundred years old. The immortal boy took advantage of Ross and his wife's charity and trust, killing them both. Just as she shook off the memory, Ianto came up the east stairs with a file box in his hands. He dropped it onto Fish's work table and then started removing the files, arranging them into different piles.  

"I know you and Jack scanned all the digitised files. These are from the areas I haven't digitised yet. I pulled every file I could think of on consciousness transfers, body swaps and anything about the Erudis."

Miranda's eyebrows rose almost to her hairline. "That's all you found?" 

The Welshman nodded grimly. "There isn't much. This is the first time a reliquary has come through the rift and only the sixth time something has come through from the Erudis culture. Nothing else from Jack's century and from that society has come through the rift." 

"I'm going to go look through the unidentified artefact case reports," she said as she turned towards the east stairs. There'd been an artefact, something that had fallen through decades ago, that she thought might help. She couldn't remember and it was right on the tip of her tongue. It either looked similar to the reliquary or it was something else to do with the reliquary. Deep down she knew she was grasping at straws. 

"Mandy, those files are a disaster. They're not indexed. They're not cross-referenced. They're just in date order. Nothing is digitised, you'll have to look at each file manually. There isn't time!" Ianto insisted. 

"There might be something but I can't remember. Have you changed the files since the 70's?" 

Ianto shook his head. "If anything changed it wasn't me. I started in the identified items section because it's smaller." 

She put her comm unit into her ear and started to briskly walk down into the archive. "If I'm not back upstairs in half an hour, call me back up."

Torchwood operatives often saw the paperwork and the reports they wrote as moot. No one would see them. No one would review them. So why write them? Miranda and Jack knew better. An immortal mind saw the possibility of centuries. The reports written now may see pointless but in a few hundred years? A thousand? Unfortunately that attitude meant that Torchwood's archives were an unholy disaster. 

Case reports were filed where ever there was space and one room could hold only so much. After she'd made her way to the correct filing room, Miranda walked down a few rows of cabinets to the one she was looking for, the drawer labeled _'1977'._ She clicked the latch and pulled the drawer open in a swirl of dust, flipping through the files wearing cotton gloves. 

She knew the file she needed was from 1977, 1978 or 1979 and that it was one of Jack's field reports but that still left her with nearly a dozen drawers of files to sift through. When she got to the drawer marked 1979, she finally found the file she was looking for. 

"… _closely resembles a prison reliquary. The base is too narrow and has a small dial, indicating this item is not a reliquary and is of unknown origin and use…"_

Frustrated, she slammed the file closed and shut the cabinet drawer. She knew it had been a long shot but it was all the boy had. She started the short walk back up to the main Hub. Out of habit, she took out her fob watch and clicked it open. _Goddess below! I told Ifan to call me after a half hour!_ She'd been down in the archives over forty minutes.

Angry, she stormed up the east stairs ready to scold Ianto for forgetting. It wasn't like him to be so careless. It was right then she heard angry shouting coming from the direction of the boardroom. She sprinted across the main Hub with her gun drawn. 

Gwen and Fish were shouting at Jack. Their prisoner was sitting at the boardroom table eating some cut up fish and chips with a plastic fork and knife. 

"Are you both out of your minds?" Jack shouted. 

"He's just a little boy, Jack! And even if he is an alien, a little boy isn't exactly a threat to four adults!" Gwen shouted back. 

"It's just a bit of food!" Fish shouted. "He said he was hungry."

Miranda, astonished at their foolishness, joined the shouting. "Have you two taken leave of your senses?!" 

"QUIET!" Jack bellowed. "Gwen, Fish, I understand you're upset but we're wasting time arguing that this kid doesn't have." 

"I don't see what's wrong with keeping him up here. He doesn't have to stay locked in a cell while we look for a way to help him!" Gwen implored. 

Jack gave her a stern look and said, "I know he looks like he's just a kid but he isn't. A couple hours without food or water in a cell isn't going to kill him, alien or not. I'm taking him back to his cell." 

At that moment, Ianto came into the board room. "Mandy! I've been looking for you. Your comm unit isn't working…" he trailed off when he saw the boy sitting at the boardroom table. "Have you all gone mad?"

As the argument rose up again, the alien seized his opportunity while the adults backs were turned. The team had been so distracted that they hadn't noticed the alien had snapped its plastic utensils leaving the handles with a sharp jagged edge. The alien fisted Aaron's hands around the broken utensils and jammed both straight into Jack's right side. With a howl of pain, Jack fell to his knees as the alien yanked his Webley free from its holster. The revolver was a little too large for a boy's hand but the alien was able to hook Aaron's finger around the trigger and point the gun at Jack's head. He stood next to Jack, one fist in Jack's hair. 

Miranda was the only one with a drawn weapon. Ianto had only his stun gun and Gwen and Fish were foolishly unarmed. 

"You don't have to do this! Let him go," Gwen said firmly. "We can talk about this…" 

"You will release me to the surface." A cruel smile twisted across the boy's face and Miranda saw Fish shudder out of the corner of her eye. It shifted its aim, using Aaron's arm to point the barrel of the gun behind Jack's shoulder. It pulled the trigger. Everyone but Miranda ducked as Jack howled in pain over the sound of the gunshot. The wound was through and through and began bleeding heavily. Miranda dug down into herself summoned a cruel malevolence she had long buried. She cocked her head slightly and gave the alien a hollow, empty stare. 

"You have to the count of three to release him. Or I will kill you where you stand," she said with a hollow dull voice that made Gwen shiver. 

"You will release me! Now!" The alien sneered with the boy's voice and aimed the gun at Jack's leg, firing another round into his thigh. Jack let out another yelp of pain. 

"One."  

"Kill me and you kill the boy!"

"Aaron Finn is already dead," she said coldly. "Two." 

"I want my Mummy!" the alien cried in a mockery of the child it inhabited as it widened Aaron's eyes in fear. Up until now, it had been using its childish appearance to its advantage. The alien hadn't expected this, hadn't expected to encounter someone immune to the child it inhabited. It was panicking. "Don't let her kill me! Please! Don't let her hurt me! I want my Mummy! Please, I want to go home!" 

Miranda wasn't fooled for a second. The alien still had the gun in Aaron's hand, a gun still pointed at Jack's head. She couldn't see Ianto from where she was standing but she could see Gwen and Fish and both of them were ready to rush forward to stop her as the alien's child-like pleading and begging continued. 

"Three."  

Gwen and Fish both screamed at the sound of the gun shot. The bullet impacted the boy's chest, sending him flailing backwards, Jack's Webley falling from his grip. Ianto rushed forward, catching Jack in his arms and dragging him away. 

Miranda casually walked forward, standing beside the fallen boy, looking down at the angelic face twisted in anger. The alien was still alive, spitting what she assumed were curses at her it its native language. That sort of vitriol didn't require translation. She didn't need to look up to know that Gwen and Fish were staring at her with horror on every inch of their faces. She didn't need to look up to know that Jack was cradled in Ianto's arms, neither man watching what must come next.  

Before anyone could protest or stop her, Miranda leveled her gun at the alien's head and fired.


	10. Chapter 10

Joseph Fischer was alone in the Hub. Gwen had gone home hours ago in a flurry of angry tears. Jack had vanished to one of his rooftops after suspending Gwen for a week and putting both her and Fish on Weevil duty for a month. Fish had no idea where Ianto or Miranda were. Frankly, he didn't care. Evie… Miranda… that cold hearted bitch could rot for all he cared. And honestly? He had no idea why he was still at the Hub himself. He wanted nothing more than to go home and pour himself a stiff drink… or ten. 

He reached up and turned off his workstation's monitor. He sat back in his chair and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, fighting back tears. He was a chemical engineer for Christ's sake, just a scientist. All this death? Torchwood and aliens? It was too big for him. It was too much. He couldn't do this. What ever made him think he could do this? 

The sound of glass clinking against his desk startled him. He looked down and saw one of Jack's crystal tumblers on his desk with a finger of Scotch in the bottom. He looked up, expecting to see Jack's face but instead it was Miranda standing over him. Anger and revulsion bubbled up in his chest at the sight of her. 

"Get the fuck away from me, you monster," he said coldly. 

She didn't seem the least bit disturbed by his reaction nor the slur he hurled at her. "Drink this and then come with me, Fish." 

"Give me one fucking good reason why the fuck I should follow you anywhere, you heartless piece of shit?" He stood up, rounding on her and raising his voice to yell. "I don't know you. Did I ever know you? You're a doctor, for Christ's sake, Evie! A fucking doctor! How could you?! How?! He was innocent! Just a boy! A child! You cut him down in cold blood!" 

She didn't back away from the venom of each accusation. He was angry, using her as a convenient target for blame. Jack had had to face the same when he'd sacrificed Jasmine to the fairies, when the team didn't yet realise that it'd been the only way. Fish didn't see it yet. He didn't understand that there'd been no other choice. He didn't understand that the boy had been lost from the moment he'd picked up the shiny metal on the dock. 

Looking him square in the eye, she picked up the tumbler and held it out to him. "Drink this and come with me, Fish."  

"Fuck you!" he shouted, knocking the glass from her hand and it shattered on the concrete floor. He turned his head upwards, shouting into the empty Hub, whirling about angrily. "It's all filth isn't it? The Weevils and the bollocks and the shit that comes here? That's all we get… the shit…" 

"Come with me," she said gently. "Please, Fish." 

He scrubbed at his face, angrily, wanting to do nothing but punch her… someone… anything… Instead he followed. He didn't know why but he followed her as she went down the east stairs. He followed her as she went down into the archives. He didn't come down here often. It was typically Ianto's domain. Eventually, they stopped in front of a closed doorway with a keypad lock. He watched Miranda punch in a short code. Once the door was unlocked, she opened it and gestured for him to follow her inside. 

It was a typical archive room, filled with shelves piled with various items and artefacts, each one had a paper tag hanging from it. Miranda walked over to a shelf, donning a pair of cotton gloves and picking up what looked like nothing more than a rectangle of transparent glass. She walked back over to him and held the glass up so he could see. She slid her finger along the bottom edge and the glass sprang to life. It was a picture frame. An alien scene was displayed on the front. Four humanoid life forms were standing in a group next to a deep blue lake, the sky was blue but the trees and grass were a burnt orange. It was clearly a family photograph, two parents and two children, perhaps on holiday. The beings in the picture weren't human but their happiness was unmistakable. Arms were linked and wrapped around each other. They were all smiling. _Aliens smile…_ After a few seconds, the scene changed again. It was the same lake and the same family but the children were older. After another few seconds the picture changed. It was again, the same lake and the same family but only one parent was standing with the two much older children, who now looked like adults. One of the children was holding an infant. Fish looked from the picture frame up to Miranda and back to the frame again as it continued to cycle through the family's precious memories, tears springing in his eyes. 

"This fell through the rift in 1973. We don't turn it on often. We don't know how long its power source will last," she said. She slid her finger along the bottom edge in the opposite direction and the images stopped, the glass becoming transparent again. 

She walked away, replacing the picture frame on its shelf. She bent down, picking up a small cylinder that looked like plastic. The cylinder had no markings on it. "This is what they use as envelopes for mailing letters on a planet called Tyresisia XI. It's a future human colony in the forty fourth century. Inside is a letter, written by a soldier to her husband. It fell through the rift in 1904, sealed and unaddressed. Jack translated it back in the sixties. The soldier wrote it the day before battle. She was saying goodbye, writing a letter she knew her husband would never read." 

The tears prickling Fish's eyes finally began to fall. He looked at the cylinder, wondering if this letter would remain in Torchwood's possession for two thousand years until it could be sent to the intended recipient. 

After replacing the cylinder on its shelf, she took another item from a different shelf. It was a small box made of some sort of rich wood, intricately carved. Miranda flipped the latch and opened the box. Inside were some stones of various colours, sizes and shapes. Each stone had something written on it. 

"This fell through in 2002. Jack and I found it in a dumpster on one of the estates. The box had opened and the stones were scattered. It took us three hours to find them all," she said as she reached into the box and plucked out a rose coloured stone. "Jack translated the symbols. They're dates and places. They belonged to an alien being from the thirty eighth century who was widely travelled. That alien would visit a world, chose a stone and write the name of the planet and the date on it. Keepsakes of a traveller who wanted to remember the places they'd been." 

 _Pieces of other worlds…_ Fish felt his jaw drop as he reached out, picking up a handful of the rocks and let them fall between his fingers. _All these aliens… they're just people…_ He lifted his head, feeling more tears rolling down his cheeks as he looked around the room. 

As if reading his mind, Miranda smiled softly and said, "Every item in here is something beautiful and brilliant that the rift has given us. Some of the items are from human beings in our future. Some of them are from alien beings on alien worlds separated from us by space and time. But every single one of them is filled with hope and love." 

"Why did you bring me down here?" he asked. "Why are you showing this to me?" 

"Because today won't be the last day like this, Fish. Today, I had to shoot a ten year old boy possessed by an alien psychopath. I may have to do the same thing tomorrow. Or maybe you will. The decisions we're faced with? The choices we have to make? Sometimes it's too big and too much for any of us." 

She let the lid of the box fall completely back. There was something written on the inside of the lid in the same glyphs as those on the stones. He wondered what it said. 

Miranda, reading his mind again, slowly said, "It says, 'To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour…'"

"William Blake…" Fish gasped. _Aliens will read William Blake…_

"This," Miranda said, waving her arm around the room at the shelves, "is what we're fighting for here, Fish, the future of humanity. Do you want to still be a part of Torchwood?" 

" _Ad astra per aspera…_ A rough road leads to the stars…" Joseph Fischer knew it might damn him but his road was with Torchwood and where ever it would lead him.


End file.
